Hasta La Gadget!

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

If the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ does anything, it brings shaky, fearful, immoral leadership into sharp relief. Just after his birth, a “frightened” King Herod searches for the child in order to “pay him homage.” The narrative later reveals that the puppet king simply wanted to murder the baby in order to make sure there was no competition for the title of “King of Israel.” The Magi, in their wisdom, pick up on Herod’s power-induced paranoia and do not return to Jerusalem after offering Jesus their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Upon the Magi’s departure, a messenger of God warns Joseph to take his fledgling family and flee to Egypt until Herod’s reign comes to an end. Subverting the powers that be, the holy family departs for Egypt, remaining their until Herod’s death.

In our own time, we are learning more and more about the desperate, paranoid tactics of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Just last week, The New York Times released an uncensored letter from the F.B.I. to Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraging the civil-rights prophet to do the “one thing left for you to do. You know what it is.” The Georgia-born pastor did not do that &ldquoone thing” and ended up spending the next three years of his life continuing to advocate for the social transformation that threatened the national status quo. Shaky, fearful, immoral federal leadership did not work then and will not work now.

Just this week, on Nov. 17, 2014, Jay Nixon, Governor of Missouri, declared a state of emergency ahead of the impending grand jury announcement regarding whether Officer Darren Wilson will be indicted for the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in Ferguson. Citing the “possibility of expanded unrest,” Governor Nixon has joined the likes of King Herod, William Sullivan, and J. Edgar Hoover in the tradition of exhibiting shaky, fearful, and immoral leadership in the face of magnified social pressure. In declaring a state of emergency before any actual announcement by the grand jury, Nixon is shedding a valuable light on what happens when a culture of fearful white supremacy can’t tolerate dissent, disorder, or difference. In declaring a state of emergency, Nixon is adding himself to the ranks of incompetent leaders who find solace not in bringing justice to the masses but in furthering division and suspicion.

In declaring a state of emergency, Nixon is saying, once again, that the lives of black people are expendable, dispensable, and disposable. Deeper than Gov. Nixon’s declaration, though, are forms of American Christianity that have championed the dehumanization of black lives. During and before the Civil War, ministers of varying denominational affiliations used the Bible to justify the institution of chattel slavery. During the 1950s, similar arguments were used to promote segregation. And so, in this vein, Gov. Nixon has, in effect, declared that the prospect of black people protesting on the streets of Missouri is more dangerous than the prospect of an unarmed teenager being killed by the very ones who have vowed to protect and keep the peace. What will the church do in the days, weeks, months, and years to come? Will we sit idly by while modern-day Herods use totalitarian tactics to prevent nonviolent demonstrations? Will we place our lives on the line in order to show solidarity with society’s most vulnerable? Will we, empowered by the Spirit, go to the lynching tree with Jesus, receiving the execution prepared for those who love justice? We must resolve, in these United States of Emergency, to announce, with loud voices, “The only emergency is the rate at which black lives are being lost to bloodthirsty police.”

Happy birthday, Goldie Hawn! Our favorite blonde bombshell turns 69 today and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than by taking a look back at her best moments over the decades.

And no — we assure you, that’s not Goldie’s lookalike daughter, Kate Hudson. Yes, Hawn and her daughter, 35, still look a lot alike — even though Goldie is nearing 70. With her feathery, blonde hair and those bright-blue doe eyes, it’s easy to see why.

Hawn originally started her career in dance, quickly landing a role in Disney’s “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band,” where she met Kurt Russell, who would later become her long-time love. She also appeared regularly on Rowan & Martin’s “Laugh-In” in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It wasn’t long before Hollywood was taking notice of her vivacious, bubbly persona. She went on to win an Oscar for her performance in “Cactus Flower,” and enjoyed other memorable roles in films like “The First Wives Club” and “Private Benjamin.”

But Hawn’s personal life has been just as intriguing as her professional career — most notably, her long-term romance with fellow actor, Kurt Russell. They’ve been together over 30 years — a Hollywood anomaly.

She’s also, of course, known for her bombshell good looks (she posed for Playboy in the ’80s). But earlier this year, she was scrutinized for her appearance at the Oscars — with speculation that she’d gone overboard with plastic surgery.

But we’ll repeat now what we said then, Goldie, we love you just the way you are.

While I was roaming the floor of Inter Bee 2014, a high-end broadcast trade show in Japan, I spotted a demo camera equipped with Canon’s latest monster 50-1000mm lens which was announced a little less than one month ago under the “Canon CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 Ultra-Telephoto Zoom” name. Although it also exists in Canon EOS EF mount (as well as PL), this is a lens primarily designed to shoot movies instead of still photos. It is marketed under the CINE SERVO line, and you will probably not order it from Amazon.

This rather “elite” lens with a price tag of $78,000 is used by broadcast or movie crews which needs to have a very long zoom (20X) capability, which can further be extended to 1500mm with the built-in 1.5X extender. This is a dream lens for people who want to shoot 4K movies while staying at a good distance from the subject. Sports, racing or wildlife movie capture are obvious examples, but the possibilities are endless.

It would typically be mounted on a Canon C-Series “cinema” camera, but some users also use it on a $10,000 EOS 1D DSLR camera. In theory, it could mount on a more modest model, but if you can afford the lens, we’ll just assume that you don’t have a EOS 60D… I won’t own one anytime soon, but it was a beauty look look at and play with on the show floor.

$78000 High-End Canon 50-1000mm Lens: Eyes-On , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Back before the Web, I posted a personal ad in the San Francisco Bay Times, my local LGBT newspaper. It read, in part, “I Like Fun. Seeking brainy brawny girls to frolic with.” I went in with low expectations, so imagine my surprise that, 19 years later, I am happily partnered with the person who answered my ad — someone else who likes “fun.”

From our first phone call on the morning of Jan. 1, 1995, there was an intellectual and emotional crackling between us that has always made our pairing both challenging and exciting. Back then, Willy presented as a butch lesbian but identified as a transgender man, and I articulated an interest in dating a woman-bodied man. What I mean by that was that I wanted someone who would open doors for me, thrill me with chivalry, buy me pretty things, and let me be the girl, but as a self-identified lesbian with a preference for butch women, I was not seeking to partner myself with a man.

Then my butch began transitioning, and I was faced with a choice. I want to tell you why this lesbian chose to stay.

I knew from the start that medical transition was something Willy was considering as a possibility, but somehow it seemed very far away. I appreciated his masculinity within our butch/femme dynamic. Finding my gender opposite and being appreciated for my womanliness felt like a soothing elixir and, at the same time, a thrill ride. Not that there weren’t difficult aspects to our relationship. Willy placed restrictions against touching some parts of his body; there were rules that protected his soul but made mine lonely.

Over the years, he did begin seriously considering transitioning. To be completely honest, the idea of it scared me. I was resistant.

I liked things the way they were. I had the masculine woman I wanted. I had identified as a lesbian since coming out at 16, and I didn’t know how to be the partner of a transgender man. I worried how it would affect my identity. I knew that being perceived by others as a heteronormative couple would afford me some legal, social, and safety privileges that I didn’t yet have — but I deserved those already. I resented that I could only get them if I was with a man.

In 1998 we had a big (though not legally recognized) wedding at the Oakland Rose Garden. In 2004 we were married again (legally, this time) when San Francisco’s then-mayor Gavin Newsom opened the door to same-sex marriages in the city. After that marriage was voided by the courts, we became registered domestic partners before the birth of our first child in 2006. We had two more children, in 2009 and 2012, respectively.

We lived through struggles with illness, finances, and the misery of the Proposition 8 campaign, when our neighbors pointed their “No Gay Marriage Allowed” signs at our house and organized street protests in our neighborhood, yelling their hateful rhetoric at us as we drove our son to preschool. At the same time, Willy and I had the American dream: a home and a family. Our everyday lives, like so many people’s, were a treadmill of drudgery, yet so sweet and lovely.

Then, as I was waiting to find out if I was pregnant with our third child, Willy came to me. “Well, I’ve decided,” he said. “I’m transitioning.”

Even after 17 years together, I wasn’t ready.

I was still so resistant to being seen as heterosexual. Coming from a traditional Greek immigrant family, I had fought long and hard for the right to be myself: a lesbian. And I worried that he would change and become someone else once he transitioned. Yet, at the same time, I did not want to be an unsupportive partner, and I was afraid of being judged by the transgender community for my feelings. His decision ultimately forced my hand, as it has for many partners of transgender people.

And I finally had to ask myself, “If Willy transitioned, would I really break up my family? Would I really leave the person I love?” In response, I kept coming back to the things I loved most about him: his passion, his loyalty, his wicked sense of humor, his intellect, his love for me and our kids. Life without him was unimaginable. So I told him I’d made a decision too.

Whatever Willy’s physical form, I choose him. I choose to stay.

I told him that I couldn’t make any promises that I would easily adjust or even know how I’d react to his changing body, but that I would respect his choice. And I hoped he could respect me and allow space for my feelings as I explored what this meant for me and my own identity.

Two months later he underwent chest reconstruction surgery. I grieved over this change to his body, yet I’ve since found an unanticipated benefit: There are no longer any restrictions against touching his chest. This area that had been banned for so many years was suddenly open territory. Even though the form had changed, the new freedom it allowed me lifted my heart. Moreover, Willy was happy, more at peace than I had ever seen him. More than anything else, this made it easier for me to change as he changed.

Still, there are awkward questions I struggle with: If I make a new friend, when or how or why do I tell them that I am a lesbian and that Willy is transgender? If he went through so much to actualize his reality, what is the purpose of telling? Yet if I don’t tell, I feel like I’ve somehow given an incomplete representation of my own experiences; all my queer struggles are erased. I know that as the partner of a transgender person, I am living my life as an ally — but it is still my life, and I am my central character. So I seek to honor and accept my feelings, whatever they are. I let them exist, and I let them pass.

In the end, Willy is my partner. We swim side by side through these waters. We seek to arrive at the same destination, but the strokes we choose to get there may differ. But that is OK with me, as long as we get there together.

An earlier version of this post appeared on Advocate.com.

A Michigan woman was arrested by Secret Service officers after she was seen walking along the White House’s north fence with a handgun at about 8 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.